To me, it just sounds like this guy is weak and unintelligent and does not have what it takes to be an app publisher.

He should sell the game to someone who can handle the positives and negatives of having a successful app.

Edit-I'm sure this will be a controversial argument. But really ask yourself- is there any doubt that this guy could not handle this level of success?

2nd edit-I rescind my earlier quote about being weak and unintelligent, though I'm leaving it up because I don't want to hide what I've said. Instead, I should have been less harsh and said something about "with great success comes much exposure to lots of people, some of whom are quite cruel, and that's one of the risks you take when releasing an app on the app store."

I am sorry if I offended anyone by calling him weak and unintelligent. I just meant he should have a little thicker skin and should have considered this was a possibility.

Thanks commenter #1 for providing us with such a concise example of why the poor guy probably doesn't want to deal with the internet public anymore.

It's a cruel world.

But really, think about it. EVERY highly successful thing out there attracts haters. If you aren't prepared to handle that, then you shouldn't enter the market. He should have realized this from the beginning (hency my unintelligent comment) and either had the courage to face it (be strong, not weak) or sell it to those who can (be intelligent).

That being said, I would happily bear the financial brunt and take one for the team.

This is a rather strange move. He had the guts and mental endurance to go through everything necessary to have the game make it to the app store. And more guts (yeah, pretty gutsy move I think) to remove it from the store.

I was subjected to the brutality that is Flappy Bird by my Wife last night. It is an excellent/evil game that robbed me of an hour I should have spent working. To add insult to injury, my Wife then proceeded to beat my hard won high score.

That being said, I would happily bear the financial brunt and take one for the team.

Yeah, I would have paid someone $1,000/week to take over my twitter account.

But whatever. He's probably got a few hundred thousand bucks in the bank, and he lives in Vietnam where that kind of money goes a *long* way. At this point he doesn't need the money.

PS: My understanding is the game's merit mostly came from being extremely difficult? I've never played it, but I've seen a lot of complaints by players who find the difficulty almost impossible... which must give a nice sense of achievement to those who managed to master it.

Thanks commenter #1 for providing us with such a concise example of why the poor guy probably doesn't want to deal with the internet public anymore.

It's a cruel world.

But really, think about it. EVERY highly successful thing out there attracts haters. If you aren't prepared to handle that, then you shouldn't enter the market. He should have realized this from the beginning (hency my unintelligent comment) and either had the courage to face it (be strong, not weak) or sell it to those who can (be intelligent).

Assholes like you ruin the internet.

Sorry, can't handle that? You should have the 'courage to face it'. To 'be strong, not weak.'

PS: My understanding is the game's merit mostly came from being extremely difficult? I've never played it, but I've seen a lot of complaints by players who find the difficulty almost impossible... which must give a nice sense of achievement to those who managed to master it.

I've seen a lot of people saying it took them hours to get to a high score of 5, or some such. I have played for less than 30 minutes and my high score is 31. Make of that what you will

Someone on Reddit suggested that perhaps, in his hometown in Vietnam, he's starting to get a lot of attention and suddenly, all the money he has fallen into has captured the attention of people around him, perhaps not for the better.

I'd believe it if this guy really wants out. Some of you, before running your mouths about intelligence and weakness, should read up on what happens to lottery winners a few months into their winnings. It's not pretty.

To me, it just sounds like this guy is weak and unintelligent and does not have what it takes to be an app publisher.

He should sell the game to someone who can handle the positives and negatives of having a successful app.

Edit-I'm sure this will be a controversial argument. But really ask yourself- is there any doubt that this guy could not handle this level of success?

Not sure how the developer's decision is a reflection of his intelligence, nor do I think anyone except the developer can make a judgement of whether his decision to pull the app was due to an inability to handle success. Maybe he was having some other issue in life getting in the way of being a full time developer...?

Anyway, in my opinion, all I can think of is how sad it is that such a simple app can be #1 in an app store. Pretty unbelievable! Though I suppose if there is high demand for funny little games, then funny little games will be #1!

Thanks commenter #1 for providing us with such a concise example of why the poor guy probably doesn't want to deal with the internet public anymore.

It's a cruel world.

But really, think about it. EVERY highly successful thing out there attracts haters. If you aren't prepared to handle that, then you shouldn't enter the market. He should have realized this from the beginning (hency my unintelligent comment) and either had the courage to face it (be strong, not weak) or sell it to those who can (be intelligent).

Assholes like you ruin the internet.

Really? Do you know anything about me?

What is making me an asshole-calling him weak and unintelligent? I've provided my reasoning above for saying that. Do you have anything that could make my think otherwise?

I'm sure he's a nice guy. Probably enjoys a simple quiet life and writing cool games. But I'll reiterate-don't enter the app market if you aren't prepared to handle success.

I don't understand it, he made a popular if extremely derivative and exploitative game, so how could he not be in it for the money? Any other of these derivative titles could have been artificially inflated by buzzfud and their creators would have gladly accepted the extreme wealth that resulted. If he was in it to make an enjoyable game or something unique, noteworthy, worth playing... the resultant product certainly doesn't show it.

You think someone you've never met is "unintelligent" and the only thing you know about him is that he made one of the most popular games in the whole world, with far more people playing the game than, say, call of duty.

It's entirely possible that the game's author is an idiot but you can't possibly know that, your comment was stupid for making such an unlikely assumption.

Because your comment reeks of condescending judgmental bullshit, and you have decided that you, someone who is getting all this information from nothing more than 140 char messages on the internet, have accounted for every single factor and decision in this guy's life, and that you are unequivocally correct in your assumptions he's too weak to "handle it".

That's why your comment was fucking stupid. It's not controversial, it's just you being an ass to someone who you have very little information about.

To me, it just sounds like this guy is weak and unintelligent and does not have what it takes to be an app publisher.

Claiming that it's necessary to have a thick skin in order to develop an app (successful or otherwise) is one of the more ridiculous arguments I've seen on the front page.

I don't think that it's ridiculous at all. Almost anything that can be reviewed online is going to receive a negative review at some point. Often times quite unfounded. And from the sound of this article, it sounds like the criticism of his app was pretty unfounded.

I think it's silly to not think you'll have to deal with that at some point.

To me, it just sounds like this guy is weak and unintelligent and does not have what it takes to be an app publisher.

Claiming that it's necessary to have a thick skin in order to develop an app (successful or otherwise) is one of the more ridiculous arguments I've seen on the front page.

I don't think that it's ridiculous at all. Almost anything that can be reviewed online is going to receive a negative review at some point. Often times quite unfounded. And from the sound of this article, it sounds like the criticism of his app was pretty unfounded.

I think it's silly to not think you'll have to deal with that at some point.

And there you are again, oversimplifying it. In your head, you've decided the only reason he got out was because "he couldn't handle negative reviews". That viewpoint is simple-minded.

PS: My understanding is the game's merit mostly came from being extremely difficult? I've never played it, but I've seen a lot of complaints by players who find the difficulty almost impossible... which must give a nice sense of achievement to those who managed to master it.

I've seen a lot of people saying it took them hours to get to a high score of 5, or some such. I have played for less than 30 minutes and my high score is 31. Make of that what you will

I don't understand it, he made a popular if extremely derivative and exploitative game, so how could he not be in it for the money? Any other of these derivative titles could have been artificially inflated by buzzfud and their creators would have gladly accepted the extreme wealth that resulted. If he was in it to make an enjoyable game or something unique, noteworthy, worth playing... the resultant product certainly doesn't show it.

Maybe he was in it because he wanted to be proud he published an app in the app store. That's quite an achievement. Just because it might be somewhat derivative doesn't mean didn't enjoy making it.

To me, it just sounds like this guy is weak and unintelligent and does not have what it takes to be an app publisher.

Claiming that it's necessary to have a thick skin in order to develop an app (successful or otherwise) is one of the more ridiculous arguments I've seen on the front page.

I don't think that it's ridiculous at all. Almost anything that can be reviewed online is going to receive a negative review at some point. Often times quite unfounded. And from the sound of this article, it sounds like the criticism of his app was pretty unfounded.

I think it's silly to not think you'll have to deal with that at some point.

And there you are again, oversimplifying it. In your head, you've decided the only reason he got out was because "he couldn't handle negative reviews". That viewpoint is simple-minded.

“I can call Flappy Bird is [sic] a success of mine. But it also ruins my simple life. So now I hate it,” Nguyen tweeted yesterday. “Yes, the #1 makes a lot of visibility, more profits and also getting more haters :-(“ he tweeted earlier in the week.

PS: My understanding is the game's merit mostly came from being extremely difficult? I've never played it, but I've seen a lot of complaints by players who find the difficulty almost impossible... which must give a nice sense of achievement to those who managed to master it.

I've seen a lot of people saying it took them hours to get to a high score of 5, or some such. I have played for less than 30 minutes and my high score is 31. Make of that what you will

Yeah but you're a gaming journalist, hardly the intended market for the game.

I imagine I'd probably do fairly well at the game also and get bored quickly (too bad it's not available... I really want to try it now). I expect a game to still be difficult after playing it every day for three months.

But other people have lower difficulty thresholds, I introduced my mum to minecraft a couple weeks ago and she struggles with really basic stuff like just moving around (she's never played a wsad/mouse game before). She regularly rage quits the game for stupid reasons like getting stuck in a hole she dug by accident... but she keeps coming back and absolutely loves the game.

Hitting the right difficulty is the hardest part of designing a game, and this guy clearly nailed it for the casual gaming market.

Someone on Reddit suggested that perhaps, in his hometown in Vietnam, he's starting to get a lot of attention and suddenly, all the money he has fallen into has captured the attention of people around him, perhaps not for the better.

I'd believe it if this guy really wants out. Some of you, before running your mouths about intelligence and weakness, should read up on what happens to lottery winners a few months into their winnings. It's not pretty.

Look at the people who play the lottery.

Know what I'd do if I won the lottery? Buy a decent house and put the rest into savings accounts/CD's etc. Probably talk with my bank about the best way to invest it. Certainly not tell tons of people.

Someone on Reddit suggested that perhaps, in his hometown in Vietnam, he's starting to get a lot of attention and suddenly, all the money he has fallen into has captured the attention of people around him, perhaps not for the better.

I'd believe it if this guy really wants out. Some of you, before running your mouths about intelligence and weakness, should read up on what happens to lottery winners a few months into their winnings. It's not pretty.

Look at the people who play the lottery.

Know what I'd do if I won the lottery? Buy a decent house and put the rest into savings accounts/CD's etc. Probably talk with my bank about the best way to invest it. Certainly not tell tons of people.

First, what do people look like who play the lottery?

Second, there are certain public appearance contractual obligations that come to those who win.

No what I'd do if I won the lottery? Buy a decent house and put the rest into savings accounts/CD's etc. Probably talk with my bank about the best way to invest it. Certainly not tell tons of people.

You have too much trust in banks... I wouldn't trust them a large sum of money. I'd invest it myself, either buying shares in companies I trust or building a small business of my own.

That's certainly a valid thing to do with your winnings.

But banks, at least where I'm from, have a reputation for being dependable and fiercely protecting their customer's money.

Sure, they protect their customer's money on average, but they're also prepared to take cut-throat risks on an individual basis and you're more likely to fall to that if you are an outlier... and anyone who wins a lottery is certainly an outlier.